Staircase



F. RILEY 2,760,239

Aug 28, 1956 STAIRCASE Filed A 1952 J 10 Ob I11 4 i x .I I

*- T AW?" 5 13c 11c 13b INVENTOR Freddie RiIZy ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent STAIRCASE Freddie Riley, Bridgeport, Conn. Application August 21,1952, Serial No. 305,627

3 Claims. (Cl. 20-10) This invention relates to staircases for buildingsand the like.

Heretofore it has been the practice for a builder to measure the spacealloted or required for a staircase, supply the measurements to awoodworking shop, and have the staircase made to order, since rabbetingof the stringers and other machine operations were required in thefabrication.

This procedure was costly, often involved delays, and the staircaseswere cumbersome and ditficult to handle when assembled off the job.

The present invention overcomes the objections to this prior practice,and an object of the invention is to provide an improved method, andimproved and simplified staircase units by which a builder may, while onthe job and without special equipment, easily, quickly and economicallyfabricate staircases for homes and other building structures.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved unit staircaseassemblages which may be easily and quickly attached to stringers tomake a staircase, without the necessity for previously preparing thestringers as by rabbeting, etc.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved unit staircaseassemblages as above which may be adjustably positioned with respect toeach other, thereby to enable a staircase to be built in which therisers are all of uniform or equal height.

A still further object of the invention is to provide improved staircaseassemblages in accordance with the foregoing, which are simple inconstruction and economical to fabricate.

Still another object of the invention is to provide improved assemblagesas above set forth, which are strong and sturdy in construction andreliable in use.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a staircase madeaccording to the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the staircase assemblages.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 3-3 of Fig.1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a view like Fig. 4, but illustrating a modification of theinvention wherein the end plates of the assemblage are formed of sheetmetal.

Figure 6 is a plan view of one end plate of an assemblage.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, an improved staircase unit or assemblageof this invention comprises a riser 10 and a tread 11, said riser andtread being rigidly secured together along their juxtaposed longitudinaledges 10a and 11a, as by nails or other suitable fasteners.

Referring to Figure 2 each assembled tread and riser has secured to itsopposite ends supporting plates 12 and 13. The plates 12 and 13constitute cleats, but are op- 2,760,239 atented Aug.- as 195.

posites of each other, that is, left-hand and right-hand, and each plateis substantially flat and preferably of a semi-crescent shape as shownin Fig. 6. The plate 12 shown in this figure has grooves or rabbets 15,15a, and 15b, the rabbets 15a and 1512 being vertical and disposed atright angles to the rabbet 15, and the latter intersecting the rabbet15a at 16, said rabbets being adapted to slidably receive and closelyconfine the ends of the riser 10 and tread 11. Preferably the plates 12and 13 have complementary upper concave edges (indicated 12a and 13a)and lower convex edges (indicated 12b and 13b). That is, a lower edgeportion 12b of one plate 12 may nest in an upper edge portion 12a of thenext lower plate 12, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The plates 12 and 13 have nose portions and provided with a reversecurvature, thereby to produce the effect of a continuous curve oroutline at the ends of the treads and risers when the units orassemblages are supported on stringers.

The improved staircase units of this invention may be readily secured tostringers by means of the end plates 12 and 13. Referring to Fig. 1, theend plates 12 are shown secured to a stringer 17 by means of screws 18passing through holes in the end plate. Preferably, as shown in Figs. 2,3 and 4 the end plates 12 and 13 may be secured to the risers and treadsby nails 14 as shown.

According to the invention, adjustable connection means are provided onthe upper edge portions 10 of the risers 10 and on the front or noseportions 11a of the treads 11. These connection means compriserespectively a groove 10b extending longitudinally in the upper edge ofeach riser 10, and a tongue 11c rabbeted in the undersurface of the noseportion 11a of each tread 11. A tongue 11c may be telescopicallyreceived in a groove 1%, enabling the tread 11 which has the said tongueto be adjusted Within limits, either upward or downward, with respect tothe riser 10 which has the said groove 10b, prior to the fastening ofthe end plates 12 and 13.

By this organization a complete staircase may be readily fabricated by arelatively unskilled person, since it is not necessary to groove orrabbet the stringers, nor to cut the risers 10 to any particular height.Instead, it is merely necessary to calculate the number of unitsrequired for the staircase, keeping in mind the minimum and maximumdistances between the treads 11 as made possible by the adjustableconnections to the risers, and holding to the objective of using a wholenumber of units, without the necessity of cutting any unit.

After the tread and riser units have been secured to the stringers 17,molding 21 may be applied under the nose or front edge of the treads 11,and triangular blocks 19 may be secured to the inside corner formed bythe treads and risers, at the underside of the stairs.

The end plates 12 and 13 may be advantageously formed of plywood withbeveled edges, or they may be fabricated as sheet metal stampings 20, asillustrated in Fig. 5.

While I have shown tongue-and-groove telescopic connections between therisers and the treads next above the risers, other adjustableconnections may be employed; for example, moulding may be used both inback and in front of the riser.

In such event, the builder need only procure the left and right hand endplates 12 and 13, since he can cut ordinary risers and treads to length,and complete the staircase with moulding instead of the blocks 19 andtongue-and-groove connections.

An advantageous method of fabricating the staircase consists of erectingand securing in place the stringers, as-

sembling the treads to the risers, fastening the end plates. to thetread and riser assemblies, and fastening the result-- Or, if desired,the end.

ant assemblies to the stringers.

plates may be secured to the stringers first, then the stringers'erected,"a'nd thereafter the treads and risers fastened in place. Thislatter assembly might necessitate nailing through the stringersinto thetreads and risers, however. Another alternative method wouldbeto-complete assemblies as shown in Fig. 2, then secure these to therisers, and finally erect the resultant staircase;

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of'the claimsand portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. A staircase comprising a pair of spaced parallel stringers; aplurality of individual risers; a plurality of individual treads pairedwith said risers, eachspair comprising a tread and a riser extendingupward from the tread, the back of the tread and the bottom portion ofthe riser being fixedly secured together adjacent their juxtaposedlongitudinal edges; means on the other longitudinal edges of the treadsand connected risers providing independently adjustable connectionsbetween said pairs;

and a pair of individual, flat, arcuately shaped support means for eachtread-and-riser pair, one such individual support means interlockingwith and being rigidly attached to each end of the tread and associatedriser, the top portion of the riser of the pair extending upward beyondthe adjacent edges of said means, and said arcuately shaped supportmeans having complementary nest- 2. The invention as defined in claim 1in which the means providing adjustable connections comprises comtudinaledges.

3. A stair construction comprising a pair of stringers having aplurality of step units disposed therebetween, each step unit comprisinga stair tread and a stair riser, said stair tread and stair riser beingadapted to be fixedly secured together along the juxtaposed edgeportions thereof, adjustable connection means for connecting the otherlongitudinal edge portion ofsaid stair tread to a riser of an adjacentstep unit, said adjustable connection enabling the said stair tread andconnected riser to be vertically separated and joined and to bevariously spaced when joined by relative vertical movement between saidstair tread and connected riser to vary the height of the stair treadsrelative to each other within given limits, and supporting means forsupporting the ends of said stair tread and stair riser in adjustedposition relative to said stringers, said supporting means comprisingplates having grooves disposed at right angles to each other to receivesaid ends, said plates being semi-crescent shaped and havingcomplementary upper and, lower curved edges enabling the

